TOP 10 STARTS FOR IANNONE AND RINS AT AUSTRIAN GP

• Iannone with signs of strong pace during weekend.
• Rins works his way through Q1 and into Top 10.
• Rain thought to be moving away for tomorrow’s race.

After a soaking opening day at the Red Bull Ring in Austria, slightly brighter skies met the riders for the second day of action. However, the track remained damp and chilly during F3, meaning there was no chance for improvements in lap times. Alex Rins used the session to further build on his good feeling in wet conditions and he completed the session in 8th place.

In FP4 the sun began to shine and slick tyres were the order of the afternoon. Rins and Iannone worked on their dry settings and made promising improvements ahead of qualifying, with the Italian finishing 4th.

With the track completely dry qualifying became intense, Rins was able to use his good pace and smooth style in Q1 to put himself into 2nd place, and graduate to Q2.

Q2 saw very tight times among the top riders and a strong start from Andrea Iannone. As the session came to a close the Suzuki pairing placed themselves in the Top 10, both less than a second away from the pole time.

Davide Brivio - Team Manager
“Of course it was a difficult day because this morning the conditions were mixed, but in the end we managed to get both riders in Q2 because Alex was able to pass through from Q1. I thought we could do a little bit better, but Andrea wasn’t able to use the potential of the tyre and made a small mistake during a hot lap. And Alex couldn’t really reduce his lap time from Q1. It wasn’t easy today because the track was far less grippy after the rain and it was difficult for everybody. We hope tomorrow there will be a big group which we can be part of, let’s see what happens.”

Andrea Iannone
“My feeling on the bike was good, but I wasn’t fast. I would prefer to have a bad feeling but to be at the top! We struggled on the acceleration points and the top speed, and with grip and sliding in general, and it’s difficult to control. This track is one where we struggle, but tomorrow I’ll try my best and I hope we end up in a good position.”

Alex Rins
“Qualifying was quite nice, I was feeling comfortable on the bike and I gave my maximum, 110%, to get through to Q2 - which was our target. In Q2 I did my best and enjoyed it, and finally I’ll start in 10th tomorrow. We need to make a good start and try to enjoy the race, I feel good and I feel ready to battle with the other riders. Starting in 10th place here is difficult because the track is tight, but we will fight and I will try to defend positions. Let’s see if we can be with the top group.”